News 2/2/17

Top News

Former Vice President Joe Biden establishes the Biden Foundation to continue his work around the Cancer Moonshot. The educational foundation will also focus on equality initiatives, moving the Violence Against Women Act forward, supporting military service members, and increasing access to high-quality, affordable education.

Webinars

February 8 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Machine Learning Using Healthcare.ai: a Hands-on Learning Session.” Sponsored by Health Catalyst. Presenter: Levi Thatcher, director of data science, Health Catalyst. This webinar offers a tour of Healthcare.ai, a free predictive analytics platform for healthcare, with a live demo of using it to implement a healthcare-specific machine learning model from data source to patient impact. The presenter will go through a hands-on coding example while sharing his insights on the value of predictive analytics, the best path towards implementation, and avoiding common pitfalls.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information on webinar services.

Announcements and Implementations

Behavioral health and developmental disability services provider HealthWest implements the Cx360 EHR from Core Solutions at its facilities in Muskegon, IL.

MAP Health Management will offer patients of its patient engagement technology end users a biometric pill dispensation device from Intent Solutions to help track medication adherence in real time. MAP will begin offering the TAD device as part of a pilot program this March that will focus on substance abuse disorder patients at high risk of relapse.

People

Jess Cramer (VillageMD) joins XG Health Solutions as VP of care management.

AMC Health announces new hires for its provider market: Christopher Taylor (Medtronic) will serve as SVP and GM; Laura King, RN (Medtronic) as VP; and Christopher Miller as VP of sales.

Bart Thompson (Atomic World Media) joins Green Circle Health as senior director of business development.

Telemedicine

TheDocApp formally launches its virtual visit service. CEO and founder Nick Garulay comes to the Naples, FL-based endeavor from the world of luxury and exotic vehicles. His LinkedIn profile proudly states that his Ambassador Auto Sales venture was “created in 2000 with 6k saved from waiting on tables.”

Government and Politics

NIH opens up funding opportunities for precision medicine initiative recruitment and outreach efforts. Up to $15 million will be made available over the next three years to help applicants build out the initiative’s cohort of 1 million US citizens willing to participate in long-term research efforts, including genome mapping. Applications are due March 24.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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5 Questions With Michael Lyons, MD Associate Clinical Geneticist, Greenwood Genetic Center

Michael Lyons, MD is associate clinical geneticist at Greenwood Genetic Center in South Carolina. The nonprofit provides clinical genetic services, diagnostic testing, educational programs and resources, and conducts medical genetics research. It has five locations in and around Charleston, and employs 175 staff to care for between 20 and 25 patients on a daily basis at each of its facilities. GGC will implement Epic (its first EHR) later this year, and recently launched telemedicine capabilities with financial support from the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance, the Medical University of South Carolina, the GGC Foundation, and an anonymous $150,000 grant from private donors.

Given Greenwood’s focus, what types of healthcare technology have you seen make a difference in the ability of your physicians to diagnose and treat patients?
The most significant technology that has impacted our ability to diagnose and treat patients involves the rapid advancement in diagnostic laboratory testing for genetic conditions. Chromosomal microarray analysis has allowed us to identify small chromosome deletions and duplications that would have been missed using earlier technology. More recently, next-generation sequencing has dramatically altered how we diagnose patients with single gene abnormalities.

In the past, testing was performed one gene at a time. Next-generation sequencing allows us to send panels that can look at multiple genes at the same time for a wide variety of conditions, such as autism and epilepsy. In addition, our laboratory is now able to perform whole exome sequencing, which can sequence all ~20,000 protein-coding genes at the same time, resulting in a significant improvement in our ability to diagnose patients.

Why did the center decide the time was right to launch telemedicine services? How do you anticipate this impacting physician workflow and patient access and outcomes?
GGC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1974 to serve as a resource for all individuals who need genetic services or information, and to reduce the prevalence and impact of genetic disorders. The home campus in Greenwood, SC provides clinical genetic services, diagnostic laboratory testing, educational programs and resources, and research in medical genetics. GGC extends its reach as a resource to residents of South Carolina with satellite offices in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville. Although we have offices across the state, patients requiring genetic services in South Carolina typically need to travel to a GGC office. Due to the large number of referrals we receive, patients and families may need to wait many months to be seen. This is especially true in our Florence office, as we do not have a clinical geneticist in Florence. As a result, GGC geneticists from multiple offices travel to Florence to see patients. This limits the number of available appointment slots to meet the needs of Florence and the surrounding area.

Concerns about limited available appointments led us to launch our telehealth initiative to expand access to genetic services in Florence and throughout South Carolina. We anticipate that the use of telehealth will increase the number of available appointments for patients in Florence and the surrounding area by more than 50 percent. After successful implementation of telemedicine in Florence, we anticipate establishing statewide telemedicine clinics in which patients are seen at an originating site near or even at their home while GGC physicians evaluate the patient from a GGC office. This would decrease the travel time for the family and the physician, expand the reach of genetic services to all areas of South Carolina, improve the efficiency of genetic evaluations, increase the number of patients seen, and potentially cut down on missed or cancelled appointments.

Are there special challenges that a genetics-focused organization like yours faces when it comes to adopting new technology? How do you overcome them?
The rapid advancement of genetics technology and knowledge can make it a challenge for our diagnostic and research laboratories to have the most up-to-date equipment, which is critical in making diagnoses and treating patients appropriately. In addition, the advancement of technology, especially in genetics, often outpaces reimbursement. We have been able to overcome many of these challenges through the support of the South Carolina Dept. of Disabilities and Special Needs along with federal, state, and local grants, contributions from numerous collaborators, and the diligent work of all the employees at GGC.

Is Greenwood eligible for/preparing for MACRA? How do you plan on participating?
We are not planning on participating due to our low volume of Medicare patients.

What’s next on the horizon in terms of health IT adoption? What do you foresee benefitting patients the most?
We will begin using Epic as our EHR later this year. Although there will be challenges incorporating the system across all of our offices, we anticipate that appropriate planning and commitment will lead to successful implementation and improvement in our ability to manage patient results and information, allowing us to provide better overall care for patients and families seen at GGC.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/1/17

Top News

Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee vote to move Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) confirmation for HHS secretary forward to a full Senate vote after deciding this morning to suspend rules requiring the presence of at least one member of each party. Their Democratic counterparts, who boycotted yesterday’s vote, were once again absent.

Webinars

February 8 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Machine Learning Using Healthcare.ai: a Hands-on Learning Session.” Sponsored by Health Catalyst. Presenter: Levi Thatcher, director of data science, Health Catalyst. This webinar offers a tour of Healthcare.ai, a free predictive analytics platform for healthcare, with a live demo of using it to implement a healthcare-specific machine learning model from data source to patient impact. The presenter will go through a hands-on coding example while sharing his insights on the value of predictive analytics, the best path towards implementation, and avoiding common pitfalls.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information on webinar services.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

CompuVision, a managed IT services company based in Santa Barbara, CA, merges with health IT consulting and services firm Sagewood Systems. The newly combined company will operate under the CompuVision name. Sagewood CEO Bill Wood will transition to CompuVision’s SVP of Engineering. Alberto Kywi (Cottage Health) has joined the combined company as senior healthcare management consultant.

E-prescribing software vendor DrFirst acquires clinical trial recruitment services company VisibilityRx. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. VisibilityRx apparently mines retail pharmacy data to match patients clinical trials. DrFirst President G. Cameron Deemer believes the platform “will enhance the value of our partners’ EHR and pharmacy products, while also helping providers deliver the newest and most applicable clinical trial information to their patients.”

Speaking of DrFirst, its team has put together HIStalkapalooza recap videos over the last several years. Check this one out to get yourself pumped up for health IT’s night out at HIMSS.

Just a few weeks after CEO Tim Cook takes a pay cut due to sluggish sales, Apple reports record-setting Iphone sales and $78.4 billion in first-quarter revenue. The Apple Watch also had its best quarter ever – a stat that surprises me given the general malaise consumers seem to have sunk into when it comes to wearables.

People

Jeff Lew (Cerner) joins Nextech Systems as VP of product management.

Telemedicine

Ganjapreneur reports that NuggMD will expand its online evaluation services for medical marijuana patients beyond its home state of California to include Nevada and Alaska. The company helps patients apply for and receive medical marijuana cards, and connect with a partner dispensary that provides home delivery.

Announcements and Implementations

DAS Health makes its AssessURhealth mental health assessment tool available via online portal. Assessment categories include anxiety, alcohol misuse, depression, opioid risk, and somatic symptoms.

Government and Politics

I tuned into the CMS MIPS overview webinar held earlier today to educate myself about the program and to see if any physician pain points jumped out at me. The biggest, by far, has to be the complexity of participation. “I know this can get a little confusing” was uttered quite a few times by MIPS Program Lead Molly MacHarris, who helped take attendees through over 60 high-level slides. It seems to me that, in an effort to attract as many MDs to the program as possible, CMS has inadvertently added a level of participation complexity that will likely leave most physicians wondering where in the world to begin. That being said, the program also has an incredible amount of flexibility when it comes to picking your own pace, and the measurements and categories that best suit individual practices. The slide deck should be available on the CMS website soon. For those who still have questions, feel free to email qpp@cms.hhs.gov or call 866-288-8292.

Other

I wonder how many baristas will be serving this on the HIMSS exhibit floor: The Finnish “Funguys” at Four Sigmatic attempt to cash in on the superfoods craze with the introduction of mushroom-infused coffee. The company’s green coffee mix includes maitake and chaga mushrooms, which may help to lower blood glucose levels and support digestive health. 

Sponsor Updates

• Healthwise exhibits at EClinicalWorks Day in New Orleans.

Blog Posts

• Prepping for Go Live (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 1/31/17

Top News

Senate Finance Committee plans to vote on Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) confirmation as HHS secretary stall when Democratic members decide to boycott the vote in light of, among other things, a Wall Street Journal report that claims Price “got a privileged offer to buy a biomedical stock at a discount.” The finding contradicts Price’s testimony during last week’s confirmation hearing, in which he said the discounted Innate Immunotherapeutics shares were “available to every single individual that was an investor at the time.” The boycott also delayed the confirmation of Treasury Department head nominee Steven Mnuchin. The vote will likely be rescheduled for tomorrow.

Webinars

February 1 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Get your data ready for MACRA: Leveraging technology to achieve PHM goals.” Sponsored by Medicity. Presenters: Brian Ahier, director of standards and government affairs, Medicity; Eric Crawford, project manager, Medicity; Adam Bell, RN, senior clinical consultant, Medicity. Earning performance incentives under MACRA/MIPS requires a rich, complete data asset. Use the 2017 transition year to identify technology tools that can address gaps in care, transform data into actionable information, and support population health goals and prepare your organization for 2018 reporting requirements.

Announcements and Implementations

North Broward Radiologists (FL) renews its RCM and PM agreement with Zotec Partners.

MediSys will offer Alpha II’s PQRS registry to help its EHR and PM customers collect and report Quality Payment Program data.

People

Thomas Parry (NorthPage) joins healthcare analytics firm Practical Data Solutions as national sales director.

MedEvolve hires Jenny O’Pry (MedSynergies) as SVP, RCM and Matt Seefeld (NantHealth) as SVP, business development.

Telemedicine

San Diego-based PatientClick adds telepsychiatry to its line of telemedicine services.

The Indiana Rural Health Association’s Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center enlists the services of telemedicine consulting firm TeleHealth Solutions to help it provide resources and expertise to physicians across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

Government and Politics

CMS will host a webinar tomorrow (February 1) to help small, rural, and underserved practices become better acquainted with MIPS.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 1/30/16

Top News

Former HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell encourages folks to sign up for healthcare coverage by tomorrow’s deadline. While her tone isn’t quite as funny as those taken by the #PullThisAd contingent, her tweet does dovetail with the surge in grassroots advertising for Healthcare.gov seen in the wake of President Trump’s decision to pull $5 million in weekend ads for the exchange.

Several former Obama staffers have even started a GoFundMe campaign to bring back digital advertising that was cancelled – a move seen by former Healthcare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan as “outrageous” given the last-minute nature of much of humanity. “We know that more young people enroll during the final days of open enrollment,” he explains, “but they need to be reminded of the Jan. 31 deadline.”

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Invites for HIStalkapalooza went out today. Please do us both a favor and click the “Attend Event” button in your invitation, and then follow the steps to register for your ticket. As Mr. H mentioned in today’s Monday Morning Update, if you don’t click the link and register, our check-in system won’t recognize you and you’ll be denied entry. We’d both be disappointed. You wouldn’t have the chance to dance the night away, and I would miss out on an opportunity to thank you for reading.

Webinars

February 1 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Get your data ready for MACRA: Leveraging technology to achieve PHM goals.” Sponsored by Medicity. Presenters: Brian Ahier, director of standards and government affairs, Medicity; Eric Crawford, project manager, Medicity; Adam Bell, RN, senior clinical consultant, Medicity. Earning performance incentives under MACRA/MIPS requires a rich, complete data asset. Use the 2017 transition year to identify technology tools that can address gaps in care, transform data into actionable information, and support population health goals and prepare your organization for 2018 reporting requirements.

Here’s the recording of last Wednesday’s webinar, “Jump Start Your Care Coordination Program: 6 Strategies for Delivering Efficient, Effective Care.”

Announcements and Implementations

Cleveland-based Chronic Care Management adds support for clinical quality measures programs to its CCM offering, which includes care planning and coordination, medication management, and patient assessments.

Surgoinsville Pharmacy (TN) goes live with UpDox’s Pharmacy Connect care coordination technology, giving it the ability to securely share patient records with local physicians via their EHRs.

Family Choice Urgent Care (OR) selects Practice Velocity’s VelociDoc EHR software and services, including billing and online scheduling. The Machesney Park, IL-based company’s EHR received top category-leader rankings from KLAS in its most recent software and services report.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

San Francisco-based Fitbit lays off 110 employees – 6 percent of its global workforce – in an attempt to stay on track after a disappointing fourth quarter that included poor holiday sales. The company, which acquired competitor Pebble in December, estimates earnings of between $572 million to $580 million – a far cry from its projected $750 million.

People

Chip Porter (Virtual Radiologic) joins Medical Billing Experts as CEO.

OptimizeRx names Jim Lang (Water Street Healthcare Partners) to its Board of Directors.

Cureatr board member William Winkenwerder Jr., MD (Highmark), becomes interim CEO following founder Joseph Mayer, MD’s decision to transition out of the role to become vice chairman of the board. Winkenwerder, who has been on the board since 2015, plans to expand the real-time patient alert company’s current provider partnerships, and expand into long-term and post-acute care.

Angela Mattioda (Abeo) joins Surgical Notes as VP of the company’s new RCM services.

Telemedicine

The American Telemedicine Association releases practice guidelines for mental health, pediatrics, and stroke. Public comments are due February 17.

Research and Innovation

An observational study published in JAMA Ophthalmology finds that patients are more likely to report their symptoms on an Eye Symptom Questionnaire than they are via EHR, prompting researchers to question whether patient data in the EHR is comprehensive enough for use in clinical research. They point out that the difference in symptom reporting may be due to errors of omission on the part of the physician, including forgetting or choosing not to report a symptom. As a patient, I also wonder if the encounter itself was part of the problem. Did the patient feel rushed, and thus forgot to bring up what they considered to be minor concerns? Was the physician in a hurry? Did they wind up documenting after hours, and thus forgot a few details? I can imagine any of the above ringing true given the frantic pace some practices are trying to keep in order to keep the doors open.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at Arab Health 2017 January 30-February 2 in Dubai.
• Nordic will host a meetup in Chicago February 3.

Blog Posts

• Six Ways the World is Closer to Closing the Healthcare Skills Gap (GE Healthcare)
• 5 critical steps within a successful Epic upgrade project (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Contact us online.
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